Russell Howard: Adventures
Note: This review is from 2007
It makes for a dynamic, fluid show as he flits distractedly around the topics - plus you can’t help but share his gusto for life. This appealing energy is backed up by a great use of obscure, sometimes archaic language and imagry, delivered with the unconvincing posture of an Edwardian gentleman or street-cool kid, either of which he might adopt with a charming lack of conviction.
His is a world of ‘duplicitous sphincters’, ‘radiator pants’ and ‘human Buckaroo’ – fusing ideas and words not always meant to be together to create a vibrancy in the language to match his spirited delivery.
It’s not all loose frippery and half-remembered nonsense, however. Howard has got some sterling set pieces of laugh-aloud brilliance. His all-purpose newspaper review, especially was a wonder.
This pivotal routine provides a clue to the theme of his show, at least as much of a theme as such a scattergun offering can possibly have. He wants to urge us all not to see the world through the warped prism of a media that paints the world as a dangerous place that you would be foolhardy to interact with.
Real life is experiences, adventures, if you will, which Howard encourages you to encounter for yourself. Hardly a groundbreaking philosophy, but one he appears to practice, and a convenient peg for what could otherwise be a very disparate, but equally funny, stand-up hour.
It culminates in a comedy equivalent of Reasons To Be Cheerful, as Howard racks his brain to think of joyful experiences to tell to a potential suicide victim he would miss. Howard’s own show would easily earn a place in any such list.
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Review date: 1 Jan 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett